DefenderAO

Would love to see him in more wheel route scenarios like Washington would be in.

You can run a play more than once, or variants of it. Better be an amazing excuse on why he is not playing.

We're looking at you, Austin and Duval.

Glad MSU is ranked. There was a time I rooted for every NU team we played that year as I wanted our win against them to look really good. 1995 turned out perfectly as CU, KU, and KSU all round robin'ed each other for the unprecedented 4 in top 10 finish that year. We're in a different NU era, I get it. But optics and perception on beating a ranked team on the road can't be overstated as excellent for our program right now.

One thing I did see is Rahmir's willingness and effectiveness at blocking. He looked very good in that phase, not to mention his receiving threat.

We may have both misread each other. My comments are directed against on field results as football players. I don't know these kids and have no interest in character assassinations; just thoughts and opinions on how we see the Huskers continue to compete and find success.

I have read many of your posts, and I believe you have a lot of knowledge and generally respect your opinion. I'm not certain where we diverged in the other thread (my post was not above, there, was not directed towards an individual btw); I dot believe we need to play the best players available, and Playbook knowledge/Practice efficacy needs to be weighted as heavily moving forward. Omar knows 12 plays? Add him on 8 others where the dude runs skinny or deep posts with his huge body. Single covered and has a step? Sling it to him. That's now 20 plays he's in. Maybe add more of that. Betts too. Wyatt, Levi, and the likes of them may be great for the team and show others how to study. The fact is, those types also have lower ceilings and should not play above top talent.

McCaffrey knew the playbook, according to Verdu, astoundingly well. Turned out, well, not well...

Read the emotional takes in the "what did we learn OU" thread. Some are mad we're being too hard on our players by calling for the better ones to play. The Staff's infatuation with subpar, Playbook/Practice-heroes, talent is not winning games. The O-Line is a wreck; give 2AM the best chance to make impromptu plays. The Wyatt's and Levi's of our team are not it. Ever.

Certainly. Not going to give Culp a pass because of fans’ bleeding hearts for nice players. Not giving Liewer a pass when he plays in front of more talented kids and then doesn’t make plays. this one isn’t challenging. NU is weaker on offense right now than D. The O Line is a mess. How about giving our best O player, Adrian, the most talented targets as often as possible? But some may think the outcomes at practice should continue to drive Wyatt and his walk on brethren getting high game reps.

It’s a representative point. Not going to apologize for wanting the best talent on the field. Same thing happened last year. Practice playbook guys at skilled positions with no return.

Reading your takes, I’ll hold this as a compliment. I’ll continue to value results. The best players generally give you the best chance at returns. Playing guys who practice well and can’t deliver in a game is a losing proposition.

I have seen twice this year Wyatt was a target in an end zone play. That’s the representative issue I have.

Manning epitomizes a broader urge. If you can’t coach a line to block, play the skill players that can actually run and catch a bit more. Adrian is out most proven player. Unskilled talent won’t help him. Betts and Manning will. I remember Coach Verdu stating McCaffrey knew the playbook better than a lot of people. He’s in his rightful place now. Let the others of his ilk follow suit.

Manning seemed to know where he needed to be when catching his touchdown. What has Wyatt’s practice hustle yielded for the team? In a non binary world, you hope the best talent is also the hardest working, most coachable. NU seems to have too many where it’s one or the other. And playing the low ceiling Good Will Hunting erudite is not yielding returns. You know the routes, great. It takes you a day to run one.

At what cost? How many times have Liewer been in when a higher ceiling athlete needed to be? What culture are you building at 12-20 over 3+ years? I get accountability. But if you’re not changing your schemes, iterate your player philosophy. Manning doesn’t know 80% of the playbook? Awesome! I can think of a guy who is bigger, stronger, more athletic in 20% plays I’m going to run more often.

Maybe not deserving of its own post, and not sure if many caught it, but I LOVED seeing the old school option one way (yesterday it was right) where 2AM then steps back to throw as the D shifted. I remember Tom calling those plays in the mid 90’s at perfect times. Maybe once or twice a game. And Frazier was the master at executing it. That play brought back sweet memories of great days. i learned that what is now old can still work very well.

That same line is responsible for opening holes for backs. Imagine if we had a good O Line. I believe we approach top 10-15 if that unit was actually strong. Our D is improving more and more. That damn O Line is just poor. Greg Austin had to go. He’s terrible. and ST are, again, the worst I have ever seen I college.

The raw numbers are more impressive than the national rank. We’ve played one more game than most. But I do like what I’m seeing with more downfield pressure.

Frost’s post game presser gave me a lens to this game, and season. What did I learn? His comment on Culp - he has seen him succeed over and over (paraphrased). Culp only kicked about a dozen FGs last year. Frost is referencing practice. Manning and Betts have routinely been on 2nd team or in DNP situations. Both made plays against NUs toughest opponent to date, maybe of the season. Frost needs to bag the practice schtick. I don’t care what he’s seen Culp do in practice. I don’t care what Manning and Betts don’t do in practice. We’re overdue to play the best talent available. Frost’s job rides on it. Some talent are just gamers. Some talent shine in practice. We need the former playing in the meaningful moments. I’ve seen too many “other” scenarios where the kid fails because he simply doesn’t have it. Stop the insanity. Play the best kids. And, as a coach, put them in the situations to maximize their talent and yield results. Today showed me some kids have it. And some love practice. We’re 289-0 in practice. With zero bowl trips. Over. Due.

MSU crushed Miami. Us beating them on the road is huge. No moral victories. We need to beat them.

I think we really disrupted them. The zone we played was solid save for a couple lost plays by Nickel DB's. Maybe or maybe not a top 5, but OU traditionally gets better as a year progresses. Game 1 is usually the worst. Game 2 a big jump. We got them game 3 and played well despite an all time terrible Special Teams and a very poor O Line. I'd fire Greg Austin now. Right now.

Agreed. We must legitimize this performance and build from it. Win the next two and keep grinding.

GOOD - Martinez balled out. Maybe the best game of his career given the circumstance - The Defense played well; we really needed an earlier stop on OU's last drive. - Linebackers played particularly well today. Good pass coverage from the secondary - Rahmir was a bright spot. Absolutely GREAT to see Betts and Manning. Screw practice...these guys are gamers. BAD - Our Special Teams is the worst collective group I have ever seen in college. Not just NU's worst...the worst of any program I have ever watched. - Greg Austin is a complete bum. He cannot coach and our O Line was pretty poor at picking up any type of stunt or blitz - Our one minute offense is bad. Like we were shocked to have a chance to tie it...and threw up on ourselves. - Losing Ervin...I hope the kid gets well soon. Overall I'm proud of the team. We HAVE TO beat MSU to legitimize this performance today.

Presser Frost: "We fought hard, played well enough to win. I'd also like to thank Greg Austin for his time at Nebraska and wish him well in his new job somewhere else."